Battery lighting system



ept, l3 A. N. SMITH BATTERY LIGHTING SYSTEM Filed Aug. 15, 1933 THEJCCDY LJINE @CDAC INVENTOR Anrhong N. Smhh ATTORNEYS v out of sheetmetal.

Patented Sept. 3, 1935 UNITED stares BATTERY LEGHTING sYsTEM Anthony N.Smith, Girard, ;P a., assignor to, 'jThe Girard Model Works Inc Girard,Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 15, 1933, SerialNo. 685,218

solaims. (01. 46-48.)

This invention relates to a battery lighting system and moreparticularly to such a system adapted for lighting the interior of a toyvehicle such as a railway coach. I

The primary and general object of the present invention resides in theprovision of a compact,

simple and inexpensive battery lighting system for lighting the interiorof toy bodies, particularly vehicle toy bodies such as toy railway cars.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as willhereinafter appear, my invention consists in battery lighting elementsand their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are moreparticularly described in the specification and sought to be defined inthe claims. The specification is accompanied by a drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an inexpensive type of toy railway coachembodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof with the top removed;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section inf'the plane of theline 3-4 of Fig.2; andj v Fig. 4 is an enlarged section in [the plane of the line '4-4of Fig.2. s Z

,Referring to the drawing,the lighting system of my invention is shownapplied to an exceedingly' simple and inexpensive form of toy railwaycoach andjone of the advantages of the present system is the fact thatbecause of its simplicity it maybe made at a minimum of expensecommensurate" with the toys of this character.

The coach comprises a bottom plate l2, side walls l4, and a top Hi, allof which are pressed The bottom plate has appropriate bearings Ill andside flanges 20 bent downwardly at theside edgfiesthereof, andadditional flanges 22 bentdownwardly .at the ends thereof. The bearings13 carry axles 24 with appropriate The end portions, of bottom plate l2are slotted at 2.8 to receive the inner ends 3!] of appropriate couplingmeans 32 for connecting the coach in the train, the coupling ing slotsin the end flanges 22.

."Ihe side walls E i are appropriately stamped andapertured insimulation of doors and windows and are secured to the bottom plate IZbyconvenmeans 32 passing through appropriate supporttional tongue and slotconstruction as is indicated at '34 in Fig. 3,. The top edges of walls Mare flared outwardly as shown at 36 in Figs. 1 and 2. The top or roof itmay be pressed out of'a single piece of sheet metal and is provided'within- ,turned edges 38 which mate with and encompass the outwardly flarededges 36. The top is, in this manner, made detachable from the body ofthe coach, thus giving access'to the lighting system next to bedescribed.

The lighting system comprises a metallic plate which, in the presentcase, is the main bottom plate :2 of the coach. This metallic plate isprovided with appropriate means for holding a pair of slendercylindrical dry cells 68 and 42 in place. In the-present case, the plateis bent .downwardly to-form troughs l iextending in spaced parallelrelation near the side edges of the car. The troughs 4 3 aresubstantially shorter than the battery cellsand the metal from plate l2at each end of the troughs is struck upwardly to form resilientretaining fingers or clamps it. In the present'case, the sidewalls it ofthe coach also actto help retain thecells ill and 42 in place. itwill'thus be seen that the cells may be pressed downwardly through theopen top of the coach into troughs M3 and are there frictionally held byfingers 46; It will be noted that the bat teries are placed in reversepolarity, that is, the positive poles 5'0. andiiz of cells it and 412pointingtoward oppositeends of the coach. It may also be mentioned thatfor a small 'toy coach of the sorthere disclosed, the cells' it and 52may be of the type used in flash-lights of the fountain pen type, thesebeing small in diameter and fitting readily in a small space.

'The cells 46 and 62 are spaced apart in order to provide roomtherebetween for a lamp socket 54. The lighting .system furtherpreferably includes a single strip of insulation 55 resting on metallicplate I? between the cells to and #12. q

The "battery cells are connected in series at one end by a generallyT-shaped connector 58 formed of a single piece of sheet metal, the stemportion of which is insulated from the car body and riveted to theinsulation strip 56 by a rivet or eyelet 60. It will be noted from aninspection of Fig. 4 4.0 that bottom plate 12 is cut away at '62 inorder to prevent contact, between connector 58 and the car body orground. The cross portion of connector 58 is bent upwardly and extendsbetween the base 64 of cell and the pole 52 of cell 42 (or vice versa,that is, the batteries may be turned around so long as the relativereversal of (polarity is maintained).

Socket 5G" comprises a threaded sleeve or shell 66 acting as oneterminal of the socket and a rivet or eyelet fifl acting as the otherterminal of the socket, the said eyelet passing through an insulationwasher l0 occupying the bottom of shell -66. It will be noted thateyelet 68 bears directly against metallic plate l2 and thus grounds thecenter terminal of the socket. The base of shell 86 rests in apreferably slightly cupped end 12 of the generally L-shaped connector14. The bottom apertures of both the shell 66 and connector end l2, bestshown in Fig. 3, are made sufliciently large to prevent contact with theeyelet 68, despite the fact that the riveting of eyelet 68 may be madesufficiently tight to act as sufficient holding means for connector 14.The end of connector 14 is bent upwardly and extends to one side forcontact with pole 5B of cell 46, as is most clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The circuit is completed by a manually operable switch 16 pivoteddirectly on bottom plate l2 at E8 and provided with an outwardlyprojecting control arm 86. The side wall of the coach is recessed or cutaway at 82 to provide clearance for movement of the control arm 80. Theend switch member is of course struck out of a single piece of sheetmetal. Oscillation of the switch 16 from the full line position to thebroken line position shown in Fig. 2 causes the end of the switch tobear against the base 84 of cell 42, thus completing the batterycircuit.

An appropriate flashlight bulb or lamp 86 is screwed into socket 54 inthe usual manner and contacts through the side wall of the lamp basewith the shell 66 of the socket and through its bottom or centerterminal with the grounded eyelet 68 of the socket. It will beunderstood that the circuit runs from the socket shell 68 throughconnector 14 to positive pole 50 of cell 49, thence to base 64 of cell40 and through T- shaped connector 58 to the positive pole 52 of cell42, thence to the base 84 of cell 42 through switch T6 to ground, andfrom ground to the center contact or eyelet 68 of the lamp socket.

It should be noted that while the cells are held in proper position bythe spring pressure of holding fingers 46, good end contact with thecells is insured regardless of this holding pressure, for pressure andmovement developed by switch 16 and applied to one end of cell 42 istransmitted to the opposite end of cell 42 and thence to the base 64 ofcell 40 and finally to the positive pole 50 of cell 40, that is, thecontact pressure of switch 16 is applied entirely around the batterycircuit.

It will be understood that the lighting system assembly comprises anappropriate metallic plate l2 with the battery supporting means, thelamp socket and the connector means including the switch but it is notessential that the said metallic plate l2 be the bottom of a toy railwaycoach. The entire lighting system may, for example, be applied to theroof of a toy automobile, the bulb then hanging downwardly from the roofinstead of standing upwardly from the bottom as here shown.

It will therefore be apparent that while I have shown and described myinvention in-preferred form, many changes and modifications may be madein the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of theinvention, defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A battery and lamp assembly to light the interior of a toy, saidassembly comprising. a metallic plate, said plate being formed withspaced parallel troughs and having portions thereof struck up inopposite direction to form resilient holding fingers at said troughs,all adapted to receive and hold a pair of flash light cells in spacedparallel relation, a strip of insulation mounted on said plate betweensaid batteries, a

lamp socket mounted between said batteries, the center contact of saidsocket passing through the insulation strip and metallic plate andsecuring the socket to said plate, means secured to said insulationstrip alone and extending across and connecting the batteries at oneend, means interposed between the base of the socket and the insulationstrip at one end and contacting at its other end with the free end ofone of the batteries, and a switch member mounted on the metallic plateand movable into engagement with the free end of the other battery.

2. A battery and lamp assembly to light the interior of a toy vehiclebody, said assembly comprising a metallic plate forming a part of thetoy body, said plate being struck downwardly to form spaced paralleltroughs and having portions thereof struck upwardly to form resilientholding fingers at said troughs, all adapted to receive and hold a pairof cylindrical flash light batteries in spaced parallel relation, astrip of insulation mounted on said plate between said batteries, a lampsocket mounted between said batteries, the center contact of said socketpassing through the insulation strip and metallic plate and securing thesocket to said plate, a generally T-shaped resilient piece of metalsecured to said insulation strip and extending across and connecting thebatteries at one end, a generally L- iaped piece of metal interposedbetween the base oi the socket and the insulation strip at one end andcontacting at its other end with the free end of one of the batteries,and a switch member made of a single piece of sheet metal pivotallymounted on the metallic plate and movable into engagemznt with the freeend of the other battery, thereby completing a series circuit throughthe batteries, the metallic plate and the lamp socket.

3. A toy railway coach comprising a coach body having a bottom plate anda removable top, said bottom plate being struck downwardly to formspaced parallel troughs and having portions thereof struck upwardly toform resilient holding fingers at said troughs, all adapted to receiveand hold a pair of cylindrical fiash light batteries in spaced parallelrelation, a piece of insulation mounted on said plate between saidbatteries, a lamp socket mounted between said batteries, the centercontact of said socket passing through the insulation strip and metallicplate and securing the socket to said plate, means secured to saidinsulation strip and extending across and connecting the batteries atone end, means interposed between the base of the socket and theinsulation strip at one end and contacting at its other end with thefree end of one of the batteries, and a switch member mounted on themetallic plate and movable into engagement with the free end of theother battery.

4. A toy railway coach comprising a coach body having a bottom plate anda removable top,'

said bottom plate being struck downwardly to form spaced paralleltroughs and having portions thereof struck upwardly to form resilientholding fingers at said troughs, all adapted to receive and hold a pairof cylindrical flash light batteries in spaced relation, a piece ofinsulation mounted on said plate between said batteries, a lamp socketmountedbetween said batteries, the center contact of said socket passingthrough the insulation strip and metallic plate and securing the socketto said plate, a generally T-shaped resilient piece of metal secured tosaid insulation strip and extending across and connecting the batteriesat one end, a generally L-shaped piece of metal interposed between thebase of the socket and the insulation strip at one end and contacting atits other end with the free end of one of the batteries, and a switchmember made of a single piece of sheet metal pivotally mounted on themetallic plate and movable into engagement with the free end. of theother battery, thereby completing a series circuit through thebatteries, the metallic plate, and the lamp socket.

5. A battery and lamp assembly for a toy comprising a metallic plateforming a. part of the toy, means to support a battery on one side ofthe plate, and a lamp socket mounted on the same side of the plate, apiece of insulation between the plate and socket base, the centercontact of the socket passing through the insulation and plate and beingriveted in place to secure said socket in place and ground the centercontact to paid plate, means interposed between the socket base andinsulation and connected to one battery pole, and a metallic switchmounted on the plate and movable into contact with the other batterypole.

6. A battery and lamp assembly devoid of wiring, for lighting theinterior of a toy, said assembly comprising a metallic plate forming apart of the toy, means on said plate to support a flash light batterythereon and within the toy, a piece of insulation overlying said platewithin the toy,

a lamp socket mounted on said insulation and plate within the toy andadjacent said battery, the center contact of said socket passing throughthe insulation and grounding on said plate and securing the socket onthe plate, a metal strip interposed between the base of the socket andthe insulation and connecting the base of the socket to one pole of thebattery, and a metallic switch element grounded and movably mounteddirectly on said plate for movement toward and from the other pole ofthebattery, whereby said switch completes a series circuit through thebattery, the

metallic plate, and the socket mounted thereon.

7. A toy railway coach comprising a coach body having a bottom plate anda removable top, said bottom plate having means to receive and hold apair of cylindrical flash light batteries within said body in spacedparallel relation at the sides of the body, a strip of insulation onsaid plate between said batteries, a lamp socket mounted within saidbody between said batteries, the center contact of said socket passingthrough said insulation and plate and being grounded on and riveted tosaid plate to secure said socket in place, a sheet metal connectorsecured to said insulation and extending across and connecting thebatteries at one end, means interposed between the socket base and theinsulation and connecting the socket base to the free end of one of thebatteries, and a switch member mounted and grounded directly on thecoach body for movement into engagement with the free end of the otherbattery.

8. A toy railway coach comprising a coach body having a bottom plate anda removable top, said bottom plate having means to receive and hold apair of cylidrical flash light batteries within said body in spacedparallel relation at the sides of the body, a strip of insulation onsaid plate between said batteries, a lamp socket mounted within saidbody between said batteries, the center contact of said socket passingthrough said insulation and plate and being ground and riveted to saidplate to secure said socket in place, a sheet metal connector secured tosaid insulation and extending across and connecting the batteries at oneend, means interposed between the socket base and the insulation andconnecting the socket base to the free end of one of the batteries, andan L-shaped switch member made of a single piece of sheet metalpivotally mounted and grounded directly on the bottom plate, one arm ofsaid switch member projecting through the side wall of the coach body,and the other arm being movable into engagement with the free end of theother battery.

ANTHONY N. SMITH.

